I am brand new on the list, but in surveying todays FML and everything else I can find on the Internet, it seems that our ferret-loving friends in Australia are not a strong presence here! Any of you out there? I moved to Turkey last fall and brought with me my two ferrets, RikkiTikkiTavi & Emma, from Sydney. We had a lively ferret club there. Ferrets in Australia are still raised by farmers and used for hunting rabbits, which were why they were brought from England in the first place. Because these animals are sometimes ill cared for and infrequently handled, they have given ferrets a rather bad name in Oz which the club members were actively trying to dispel. Anyway, let me share two items of interest which every dedicated ferret owner knows in Australia: 1. SOY MILK is good for ferrets, and they absolutely love it. Some Oz ferret club friends feed it to their ferrets daily, along with their dry kitten food. Since there is no lactose in it, they do not have problems digesting it and it is a good source of protein & soluble fat. Unfortunately, I cannot find it in Turkey... 2. HEAT STROKE can be prevented in summer by an ingenious Aussie invention called the "Kalgoorlie Meat Cooler", developed in the bush town of Kalgoorlie (I think) back when fridges were unknown to the sheep farmers. Constructing your own is simplicity itself: Cover the top of your cage with a wet towel or burlap sack. Place a bucket of water on top of the wet towel. Drape a wet rag over the side of the bucket so that one end is submerged in the bucket and the other reaches the wet towel. The rag serves as a "wick" to keep the top of your cage constantly wet. The evaporation cools the ferrets (or meat!) within. It works like a charm. I think this info could be a lifesaver, especially for ferrets caged outdoors--I remember it gets deadly hot even in Michigan, where I grew up. Just fill the bucket with water daily, and your ferrets will live in air-conditioned comfort all summer. P.S. Am I the only "sansar" owner in Turkey? I suspect so... [Posted in FML issue 1198]